There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.

Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

I and i

抗原变异可使得多种致病微生物易于逃避宿主免疫应答。表达在感染红细胞表面的恶性疟原虫红细胞表面蛋白1（PfPMP1）与感染红细胞、内皮细胞、树突状细胞以及胎盘的单个或多个受体作用，在黏附及免疫逃避中起关键的作用。每个单倍体基因组var基因家族编码约60种成员，通过启动转录不同的var基因变异体为抗原变异提供了分子基础。

疟原虫var基因转换速率变化导致抗原变异[英]／Paul H, Robert P, Christodoulou Z, et al//Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

Current research into semiconductor clusters is focused on the properties of quantum dots-fragments of semiconductor consisting of hundreds to many thousands of atoms-with the bulk bonding geometry and with surface states eliminated by enclosure in a material that has a larger band gap. Quantum dots exhibit strongly size-dependent optical and electrical properties. The ability to join the dots into complex assemblies creates many opportunities for scientific discovery.

Semiconductor Clusters, Nanocrystals, and Quantum Dots

Multilayer films of organic compounds on solid surfaces have been studied for more than 60 years because they allow fabrication of multicomposite molecular assemblies of tailored architecture. However, both the Langmuir-Blodgett technique and chemisorption from solution can be used only with certain classes of molecules. An alternative approach—fabrication of multilayers by consecutive adsorption of polyanions and polycations—is far more general and has been extended to other materials such as proteins or colloids. Because polymers are typically flexible molecules, the resulting superlattice architectures are somewhat fuzzy structures, but the absence of crystallinity in these films is expected to be beneficial for many potential applications.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/277/5330/1232.full.pdf

Fuzzy Nanoassemblies: Toward Layered Polymeric Multicomposites

Highly luminescent semiconductor quantum dots (zinc sulfide-capped cadmium selenide) have been covalently coupled to biomolecules for use in ultrasensitive biological detection. In comparison with organic dyes such as rhodamine, this class of luminescent labels is 20 times as bright, 100 times as stable against photobleaching, and one-third as wide in spectral linewidth. These nanometer-sized conjugates are water-soluble and biocompatible. Quantum dots that were labeled with the protein transferrin underwent receptor-mediated endocytosis in cultured HeLa cells, and those dots that were labeled with immunomolecules recognized specific antibodies or antigens.

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/281/5385/2016.full.pdf

Quantum Dot Bioconjugates for Ultrasensitive Nonisotopic Detection

A detailed study of the role that solution pH plays in the layer-by-layer processing of the weak polyelectrolytes poly(acrylic acid) and poly(allylamine hydrochoride) was carried out. It was found that dramatically different polymer adsorption behavior is observed as one systematically increases (or decreases) the charge density of a weak polyelectrolyte including transitions from very thick adsorbed layers (ca. 80 A) to very thin adsorbed layers (ca. 4 A) over a very narrow pH range. By controlling pH, it is possible to vary the thickness of an adsorbed polycation or polyanion layer from 5 to 80 A. In addition, control over the bulk and surface composition of the resultant multilayer thin films is readily achieved via simple pH adjustments. These studies have provided new insights into the polyelectrolyte sequential adsorption process and have already opened up some interesting technological applications.

pH-Dependent Thickness Behavior of Sequentially Adsorbed Layers of Weak Polyelectrolytes

Electroluminescence is obtained from nearly monodisperse CdSe nanocrystallites (quantum dots) incorporated into thin films (1000 A) of polyvinylcarbazole (PVK) and an oxadiazole derivative (t‐Bu‐PBD) and sandwiched between ITO and Al electrodes. The electroluminescence and photoluminescence spectra (bandwidths ≤40 nm) are nearly identical at room temperature and are tunable from ∼530 to ∼650 nm by varying the size of the dots. Voltage studies at 77 K indicate that while only the dots electroluminesce at the lower voltages, both the dots and the PVK matrix electroluminesce at higher applied voltages. Variable temperature studies indicate that the electroluminescence efficiency increases substantially as the films are cooled down to cryogenic temperatures.

Electroluminescence from CdSe quantum‐dot/polymer composites

The present study demonstrates that the superhydrophobic behavior of the lotus leaf structure can be mimicked by creating a honeycomb-like polyelectrolyte multilayer surface overcoated with silica nanoparticles. Superhydrophobicity was achieved by coating this highly textured multilayer surface with a semifluorinated silane. The surface maintains its superhydrophobic character even after extended immersion in water. The key structural elements needed to create stable, superhydrophobic coatings from polyelectrolyte multilayers are discussed.

Stable Superhydrophobic Coatings from Polyelectrolyte Multilayers

The molecular-level layer-by-layer processing of polyaniline with a variety of different nonionic water soluble polymers has been demonstrated. This new type of layer-by-layer adsorption process is driven by hydrogen-bonding interactions and has been accomplished with poly(vinylpyrrolidone), poly(vinyl alcohol), poly(acrylamide), and poly(ethylene oxide). FTIR spectroscopy measurements confirm a high level of hydrogen bonding between polyaniline and the nonionic polymer in the multilayer films. The effects of solution pH and polymer molecular weight on the deposition process were investigated. Comparisons with polyaniline films assembled via an electrostatic mechanism with sulfonated polystyrene indicate that the nonionic polymers adsorb onto polyaniline with a greater density of loops and tails and form highly interpenetrated bilayers with a high polyaniline content. The conductivities of these self-assembled multilayer films were found to be on the order of 1−4 S/cm for films doped with methane sulfonic...

Molecular-Level Processing of Conjugated Polymers. 4. Layer-by-Layer Manipulation of Polyaniline via Hydrogen-Bonding Interactions

Variations in the linear charge density of a weak polyacid brought about by controlling solution pH in a layer-by-layer sequential adsorption process were used to systematically control the layer thickness, level of layer interpenetration, and surface wettability of sequentially adsorbed layers of poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) and poly(allylamine) (PAH). The thickness contributed by an individual polyion layer was found to depend primarily on the pH of the polymer's dipping solution and, within the pH range examined, was not influenced by the thickness or level of interpenetration of the previously adsorbed layer. Contact angle and methylene blue adsorption measurements revealed that the deposited layers are typically highly interpenetrated and that the deposition process is a surface charge dominated adsorption process. Using this simple molecular-level blending approach, it is possible to create surfaces with advancing water contact angles that vary from essentially zero (completely wettable surfaces) to as ...

Michael F. Rubner

Papers

pH-Dependent Thickness Behavior of Sequentially Adsorbed Layers of Weak Polyelectrolytes

Electroluminescence from CdSe quantum‐dot/polymer composites

Stable Superhydrophobic Coatings from Polyelectrolyte Multilayers

Molecular-Level Processing of Conjugated Polymers. 4. Layer-by-Layer Manipulation of Polyaniline via Hydrogen-Bonding Interactions

Controlling Bilayer Composition and Surface Wettability of Sequentially Adsorbed Multilayers of Weak Polyelectrolytes